CONTACT: Denyce Duncan Lacy or Don Feldstein at (518) 640-6600
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
December 16, 2008

Governor’s budget for SUNY campuses moves in right direction

Gov. Paterson’s Executive Budget proposal appears to take a step in the right direction regarding funding for the State University of New York’s academic programs, but his proposed cuts to SUNY’s three teaching hospitals could cripple those facilities, according to United University Professions, the union representing faculty and professionals at SUNY.

The governor proposed a $7 million increase to the SUNY state-operated campuses this year by allowing SUNY to, in effect, retain 10 percent of a proposed $310 tuition increase for the spring semester. His budget provides a $35 million increase for 2009-2010 by allowing the University to keep 20 percent of a $620 annual tuition increase.

“We are pleased the governor proposed a modest increase in the state budget for SUNY’s state-operated campuses because they suffered massive budget cuts this year,” said UUP President Phillip H. Smith. “This enhancement will give SUNY a fighting chance to protect student access and preserve academic quality, and a strong public university system is even more critical during this fiscal crisis.”

“However,” Smith added. “Slashing $25 million from the budget for SUNY’s three teaching hospitals at Brooklyn, Stony Brook and Syracuse—coupled with proposed Medicaid cuts—would be devastating. Cuts of that magnitude would jeopardize the hospitals’ core mission to deliver quality patient care, to serve all patients regardless of their ability to pay and to train the next generation of health care providers.”

Smith said UUP will urge the Legislature to restore the funding for the teaching hospitals, and to consider other revenue-generating options.

UUP represents more than 34,000 academic and professional faculty on 29 state-operated campuses of the State University of New York and is affiliated with NYSUT, the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association and the AFL-CIO.

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